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January 1998, Week 4

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Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
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From:
Donald Larsson <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 27 Jan 1998 17:35:44 -0600
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J. Emmett Winn requests:
 
 
> As part of a research project I'm interested in--I'm looking for
> suggestions for movies to investigate.  Briefly: I'm looking for films
> where characters of an "upper-class" (broadly defined: economic, social
> etc) are "moralized, "emotionally healed," shown a "better" life
> perspective, etc. by characters of a "lower-class" (again broadly defined).
 
As might be expected, you can find a number of these in Depression-era
films.  MY MAN GODFREY is almost a prototype (Godfrey himself being the
one who is "redeemed" and spreads that redemption to the Bullock
family), as is SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS.
 
More recent examples with that kind of class distinction are somewhat
harder to find.  GOOD WILL HUNTING seems to reverse the situation, and
WORKING GIRL is at least problematic.
 
Defined more loosely, GROUNDHOG DAY might stand as an example (and a
timely one!), as might DAVE (with the middle-class Kline redeeming the
office of President--hmm, timely also!).
 
LOCAL HERO might work in this context too.
 
The TV series BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a pretty good, clear example in
its fablistic way.
 
Don Larsson
----------------------
Donald Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)
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